How old are Australia's pictographs? A review of rock art dating
Article
Article Title | How old are Australia's pictographs? A review of rock art dating |
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ERA Journal ID | 1739 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | David, Bruno (Author), Geneste, Jean-Michel (Author), Petchey, Fiona (Author), Delannoy, Jean-Jacques (Author), Barker, Bryce (Author) and Eccleston, Mark (Author) |
Journal Title | Journal of Archaeological Science |
Journal Citation | 40 (1), pp. 3-10 |
Number of Pages | 8 |
Year | 2013 |
Place of Publication | London, United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0305-4403 |
1095-9238 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.08.019 |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440312003706 |
Abstract | Australia contains some of the world's richest and apparently longest traditions of rock pictographs. Dating this art, however, has been problematic, with few 'direct' and reliable dates of Pleistocene or early Holocene age having been obtained from visible, representational imagery. This paper critically reviews the evidence for the antiquity of pigment rock art in Australia by examining the various dating techniques employed. The accurate and reliable dating of rock art worldwide is crucial to understanding the evolution of modern human symbolism and whether cognitive modernism came about after, rather than with, the first signs of full biological modernism; understanding the pitfalls and devising proper methods are crucial prerequisites. Towards these ends, this paper reviews the results and techniques that have been employed to date the apparently earliest known pictographs in Australia. |
Keywords | archaeology of symbolism; Australia; pictographs; rock art dating |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 450101. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology |
430101. Archaeological science | |
340101. Analytical spectrometry | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | Monash University |
University of Bordeaux, France | |
University of Waikato, New Zealand | |
Savoy Mont-Blanc University, France | |
Public Memory Research Centre | |
Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, Australia | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q183z/how-old-are-australia-s-pictographs-a-review-of-rock-art-dating
2026
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